The Venezuelan government is cracking down on what they call "false information", by denying authorship of a white paper about its new oil-backed cryptocurrency . Whilst they didn't confirm what the false information was, the country's cryptoassets superintendent told Reuters the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was due to release a statement about the new, highly controversial currency, the "Petro".

The white paper itself seems to have appeared on the government website, hence the confusion; and it may be that it is actually genuine, and an early version of what the government will soon release. Last month they announced the new cryptocurrency, and it's proving to be highly unpopular, despite its goals being to bypass the financial sanctions which have lead to the economic decline of the country over the years.

Venezuela's fiat currency is the bolivar, and inflation has spiralled out of control – so much so that the government issued a 100,000 unit note. Some see the Petro as a way to be innovative and keep pace with brand new forms of currency, and they believe it can only be good for the economic development of the country. Maduro also said it would be pegged to the country's reserves of oil, gas, and mineral wealth.